Eldklot

Örebro

Anders Berensson Architects has designed a proposal for a new water reservoir outside the Swedish city of Örebro. The competition brief asked for a design to shape the new water reservoir into a grand monument that could continue the tradition of the former water tower “Svampen” known locally for its unique shape and viewing deck. We wanted to create a new landmark just like “Svampen”. A landmark that is not only for show. We want to create a landmark shaped from a function of serving the city with necessities.

Water is an important prerequisite for society to function but by building a low “hidden” reservoir it is hard to display. So we decided to add an equally important prerequisite; energy. We proposed that the new water reservoir would not only collect water but also provide the city of Örebro with solar energy. The proposed building is a sphere covered with a reflecting surface of solar panels facing south generating energy for the city. Towards north the sphere opens itself to the public with an illuminated inside of LED lights gleaming like a ball of fire (Eldklot in Swedish) towards the city of Örebro in the evening.

The new landmark will be visible from afar and look different depending on what angle and time of the day you’ll see it from. The sphere holds great opportunities to host various festivals and events. We hoped that by being a generous public building with a timeless shape dressed with environmentally friendly technology it could become a new modern symbol for the city of Örebro to enjoy.

Manual

B-side

Erectus Grande

When doing our proposal ”Eldklot” and studying the program more carefully we discovered that the reservoir we where about to design would be closed to the public and surrounded with barbed wire. The main purpose of the competition was to create a landmark facade that would put the city of Örebro on the world map. Sad to realize that our fireball room would no longer be public and just be experienced from a distance we decided to put all our architectural aspirations of grand public spaces aside and create a new proposal focusing entirely on following the line of thought presented in the competition brief; How to brand a city in the most efficient way possible through building an attention seeking monument. With no functional purposes or narratives to base our design on we had to think inventive. Taking into account that a small democratic municipality like Örebro has to share there ”branding the city trough huge monuments budget” with schools, elderly & daycare services we had to design something easy to built and affordable. Last but not least taking into account the enormously though competition from big metropolis, multinational companies, dictators and monumental loving regimes we needed to be bolder and braver than anyone ever been before! Taking all this factors into account we ended up with this design. The ”Erectus Grande” the first giant penis monument.

Apparently the proposal made an impression on the local press. The only big local daily newspaper Nerikes Allehanda described the competition as scene in the head line bellow ” The new landmark- a giant dick?”